Bulldogs World

My oldest bulldog, Otie, has spent the last five days fighting for his life.  He fell ill on Thursday night (into Friday) and by Saturday was on IV's at the vet.  It happened so quickly and seems like just a blur.  They ran a battery of tests (blood workups, x-rays and ultrasounds) and saw that his liver and spleen were enlarged, but no masses. His blood cell counts just kept dropping and it was grim.  Today I thought I would have to make the decision to put him down (he was crashing anyway!).  My vet discussed options with me and at the end of our conversation he said, "I REALLY want to do surgery on him and see what is in there!"  I took a leap of faith and said yes!  They found a splenic torsion (twisted spleen) that was literally killing him.  Nothing showed up in any of the tests.  They removed the spleen and a small mass on his stomach (not in it) that the vet is 99% sure is benign.  He is not out of the woods yet, but if I can keep him around for three more days, or three more months, or longer, it will be so worth it.  The next two days will be critical, as those blood counts HAVE to get better, but there is hope when I thought there was none.  At least I am at peace (regardless of what happens next) that I did everything I could to save him.

Stay strong Otie......and come home.